Bringing history to life

[jetset]

Great idea to bring history to life here.

Make sure you watch the excellent video animation of the destruction of Pompeii

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[chayton]

That video is amazing! I remember once reading a fictional book set in Pompeii - there were all these characters doing this and that and completely unaware of what was about to happen to them. But I knew, and it made the book kind of a strange read - they're worried about these little things and fighting over trivialities and all this normal day to day stuff going on and I'm reading it with this sense of panic, hoping that at least some of them are going to make it.

 

[The Dude]

Pompeii is an amazing place, and much of it is still buried - it's never been fully excavated. In its prime, it must have been a magnificent city. Just about every wall was colored and decorated with mythical figures or motifs. The sidewalks were inlaid with abalone and other sea shells. Bakeries and eateries frequently dot every street. A huge amphitheater and separate colosseum attest to their dedication to be entertained. Aesthetics were a way of life back then.

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[jetset]

That video is amazing! I remember once reading a fictional book set in Pompeii - there were all these characters doing this and that and completely unaware of what was about to happen to them. But I knew, and it made the book kind of a strange read - they're worried about these little things and fighting over trivialities and all this normal day to day stuff going on and I'm reading it with this sense of panic, hoping that at least some of them are going to make it.

I know what you mean - I had a similar experience reading an historical novel that centred on - of all things - a Roman aqueduct engineer in Pompeii at that time. It was a great read but I can't recall the author or the title.

Pliny the Younger's accounts of the tragedy also make good reading, even centuries later.

I visited Pompeii and Herculaneum many years ago and like Bryan was so impressed with the ruins, the interior paintings in the wealthier homes, the remains of people and artefacts from the disaster - its like a time capsule. I recall one exhibit was a scale model of what the city looked like back then.

 

[butterflyboogie]

You know back in the day, several eras ago individuals needed a different way of life. Theater productions, operas, bakers selling baked goods on the streets, just overall mingling. Don't you believe people were happier back then?

 

[jetset]

Difficult to say - it was a pretty brutal time and folks had relatively short lives for the most part. Probably more human interaction and maybe a little more time to enjoy it. But modern life has a lot going for it!

 

[chayton]

I know what you mean - I had a similar experience reading an historical novel that centred on - of all things - a Roman aqueduct engineer in Pompeii at that time. It was a great read but I can't recall the author or the title.

Could it have been Pompeii by Robert Harris? I read that one too!

EDIT: Just a quick google search and I think the one I read was "The last days of Pompeii" by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

 

[jetset]

Well done, Chayton - right first time - I also googled the review for Robert Harris's "Pompeii" after reading your post and there it was. Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I!

As for "The last days of Pompeii" that goes back a bit and I recall having to read it as a set-work. Pretty heavy going if memory serves, mainly due to the Victorian style of the prose. But full of imaginative language (his vivid concept of what Vesuvius must have looked like when it blew is imo brilliant) and the pace revved up in the closing chapters.

 

[chayton]

As for "The last days of Pompeii" that goes back a bit and I recall having to read it as a set-work. Pretty heavy going if memory serves, mainly due to the Victorian style of the prose. But full of imaginative language (his vivid concept of what Vesuvius must have looked like when it blew is imo brilliant) and the pace revved up in the closing chapters.

Actually you're right it was a bit of a tough slog at the beginning, although at the time I was reading 'intelligent' books, like Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, you ever read that? Gah...after that, anything is easy. For awhile my bookshelf was full of stuff by Faulkner and Theroux and Irving, then after I forced myself to get all the way through Heller's 'Something Happened' (waiting for something to happen!) I looked at my shelves of books that were (for the most part) depressing and I knew I'd never read them again if someone held a gun to my head, so I got rid of them all. Now I read for entertainment and my bookshelf is jam packed full of stuff I actually like to read.

 

[jetset]

<grin> Amen to that!

 

[skiny]

The worst part was, even after the the volcano erupted they still had no idea how much danger they were in. Nobody even knew what a volcano was so while the plumes of smoke and ash were rising up to the sky they were pretty much carrying on with their business. It was an oddity for sure but nobody had any idea what was coming next. Apparently there is no Latin word for volcano and the general populous didn't even distinguish between volcanoes and mountains.

The interesting thing is the longer this thing waits to erupt the worse the eruption will be. Long periods of inactivity just allow the mountain more time to build pressure. I'm not sure when the last eruption was before 79 AD but it had to have been a while for an eruption of this magnitude.

There was at least one big one about 2000 years before the destruction of Pompeii. Excavations have uncovered the destruction of a bronze age settlement north of Mt. Vesuvius near Nola but the Romans would have known nothing of this.

 

[Simmo!]

Could it have been Pompeii by Robert Harris? I read that one too!

Great book, great author. Great video in the OP too Jetset too - but eerie and scary at the same time.